Senior management at the Russian investment bank outline plans for opening their first Asia-Pacific office in the second half of the year. Sberbank, however, maintains focus on Europe.

The investment banking arm of Russia’s fast-growing Otkritie Financial Corporation is looking to open its first Asian office in the second half of the year. Vadim Belyaev, Otkritie Capital’s new chief executive, announced plans to launch a Hong Kong office in an internal meeting last week.

According to Alexey Karakhan, deputy CEO of Otkritie Financial, the firm has yet to apply to the Hong Kong SFC for the requisite licences, although it will do so...